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The top and bottom lines for the fourth quarter blew past Wall Street expectations on Thursday. But executives said 2021 would be a turbulent year after a January hiatus in advertising spending and technological change
appeal
plan to implement.
Snap stock (ticker: SNAP) slipped 7.7% in the extended session. Shares fell 1.6% during normal trading, closing at $ 58.31.
Snap reported a net loss of $ 113.1 million in the fourth quarter, up eight cents a share, compared to a loss of $ 240.7 million, or 17 cents a share, a year ago. Adjusted for, among other things, share compensation, earnings were nine cents per share. Wall Street expected adjusted earnings of seven cents per share.
According to the company, sales grew by 62% to $ 911.3 million, compared to $ 560.9 million a year ago. Consensus revenue was $ 856.1 million.
“We have delivered our first full year of custom Ebitda profitability, and as we look to the future, we are excited to build on our investments in augmented reality, mapping and content to boost our continued growth,” said Evan Spiegel , CEO, said.
Ebitda earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization – is a non-GAAP measure of profitability.
In prepared remarks, executives attributed the profit to the company’s growth outside the U.S., and the improvements it made to advertising technology. Chief Operating Officer Jeremi Gorman said direct response advertising remained steady throughout the year.
Snap’s daily membership rose to 265 million, well above the consensus forecast of 257.9 million.
However, the coming term could be more of a challenge. In prepared remarks, CFO Derek Anderson said Snap experienced a “period of disruption” in the first two weeks of January due to the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. An unknown number of brands interrupted during that period.
Similar to
Facebook
‘s leadership (FB), Anderson has warned Snap investors about an upcoming technological change to Apple’s (AAPL) mobile operating system that could hurt advertising targets. Anderson said it is not clear what impact the technological changes will have in the long run.
Apple said adjusting it would help protect customers’ privacy, an argument that Facebook said was not genuine.
Despite the setbacks early in the year, Spiegel said Snap expects to make additional progress with profitability and increase revenue by more than 46%, the amount that Snap increased sales to full-year sales last year.
The company expects first-quarter sales of $ 720 million to $ 740 million. Analysts modeled an adjusted loss of two cents per share in the first quarter on sales of $ 705.1 million.
Write to Max A. Cherney at [email protected]